Senators heard scientific and management testimony on Aug. 14 about recent changes in the Atlantic sea scallop fishery, including a surge in small scallops that has raised abundance while lowering overall biomass and the council’s decision not to reopen the Northern Edge of Georges Bank to scallop dredging.

The hearing, convened by Senator Marc R. Montigny, brought staff from the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries and the New England Fishery Management Council to explain federal management, stock surveys and the trade-offs that led the council to discontinue consideration of access to the Northern Edge.

The nut graf: Scientists told the committee that a large recruitment of small scallops has increased animal counts but kept overall weight — biomass — low, complicating annual catch advice and rotational-area planning. Council staff said the Northern Edge is both highly productive for scallops and designated a habitat area of particular concern (HAPC) for juvenile cod, lobster and herring, a combination that produced conflicting objectives the council could not reconcile in the last action.

"Abundance has increased," said Dr. Kate O'Keefe, executive director of the New England Fishery Management Council. "About half of the total scallops that are in the water right now are too small to be cut by that regulated dredge gear." She told the committee that while abundance rose, much of the stock is below the 4‑inch size retained by the fishery’s dredge gear, which lowers exploitable biomass and revenue for the short term.

Dr. Kevin Stokesbury of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s School of Marine Science and Technology summarized 20 years of collaborative surveys: periodic extreme recruitment events have driven large swings in stock size and in meat weight, and recent recruitments produced many small animals that have not yet added substantial biomass. "If you go out and fish them now and either cut the small ones or worse, bring them up, having them die on deck and throw them back over, that is not a solution either," Stokesbury said.

Council staff described the policy path the council used. The Magnuson‑Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act establishes regional councils and requires annual catch limits; the New England council manages scallops under an annual framework process and is currently operating under Scallop Framework 39 (effective 2025 fishing year). Kate O’Keefe said the Northern Edge was considered in a joint action between the scallop fishery management plan (FMP) and the regional habitat plan but the council voted in April 2024 to discontinue the action because options that would allow harvest also posed risks to habitat and to the productivity of other managed species. "The council had a fundamental conflict between optimal timing for scallop yield and the importance of the northern edge to other fishery resources," she told senators.

Witnesses explained rotational-area management — temporary closures and openings intended to protect small scallops until they reach harvestable size — and the role of the industry‑funded Research Set Aside (RSA) program in financing the resource surveys that underpin management.

Committee members pressed for clarity about whether the council could use a framework rather than a full amendment to reopen parts of the Northern Edge. O'Keefe said a framework could be used and is a more streamlined vehicle than an FMP amendment, but the council must set priorities and reconcile habitat and yield objectives before initiating new action.

Senator Montigny and other members urged continued engagement between the council, state staff, academic scientists and the fishing industry. Montigny said he wanted action that would be backed by science and the committees asked the council staff to keep them informed if the issue is reprioritized.

Ending: Council staff and scientists urged patience, noting the rotational strategy and the RSA surveys have historically produced long‑term benefits for the fishery, while cautioning that short‑term openings without careful design risk raising natural and processing mortality and reducing long‑term yield.